


Nursing Embers

by Suzume



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: F/F, Gen, Missing Scene, Past Relationship(s), Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-04 15:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4142343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzume/pseuds/Suzume
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What will Celes do with all she remembers?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nursing Embers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quicksilver_ink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilver_ink/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Remembered Warmth](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3560243) by [Quicksilver_ink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilver_ink/pseuds/Quicksilver_ink). 
  * In response to a prompt by [Quicksilver_ink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilver_ink/pseuds/Quicksilver_ink) in the [remixmadness2015](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/remixmadness2015) collection. 



> Or: Nursing Embers (there's a spark within her still remix)

         Celes can walk alongside Gau and know that even though he might be aware that something's eating at her, he's not going to needle her about it. As a matter of fact, as she draws near, his wild auburn eyes glance over her for so brief a moment she could scarcely say they paused there.

         She isn't going to cry, but if she did, her tears would be like ice. The surface of her skin feels hot with anger, but beneath that thin layer of soft humanity, she must will herself to be as gelid as the magic they infused in her, as the emperor, and now the rest of the world, asks her to be. Terra, at least, means no harm.

         Gau's glance is equally guileless.

         As best as she can tell, Gau lacks much of what the average human gains through socialization, but Cyan treats him with a fatherly tenderness (albeit with a tad more bemusement than with which she thinks he would approach some other boy). Gau, without political allegiances (or even an understanding of what those are), who has tagged along with Sabin and Cyan for some unfathomable reason, is treated with kind regard for his feelings and she, who has actively chosen to question the actions of her empire, is handled like her veins run with ichor.

         She hadn't expected any 'thank you.' It would have been nice to properly present her case before the collected rebel leaders without being hassled though. She'd hardly be twitterpated over Locke like Edgar's suggested even without the issue of Terra, but at least he's given her the benefit of the doubt.

         But Terra's presence makes taking all of this that much harder. It's not as if Celes has never faced criticism. Emotion is making her raw. Terra isn't the empty-eyed automaton Terra Kefka's Slave Crown had made her, but that doesn't mean she's the Terra Celes had loved either, though if there's a spectrum on which to judge Terra's identity, she's closer to her Terra than Kefka's.

 

         The snowdrifts grow taller as they move up from Narshe proper toward the mountains. Gau hops about rather like a cat unhappy to wet its paws. Celes is glad the conditions of her captivity didn't extend far enough to deprive her of this good pair of boots. Not everyone's gear seems as snow-ready as it should be for this encounter, but with their time limitations to think of, at this point there's not much to be done. Sabin seems rather like the type who can tough things out. It's probably there in his martial arts training- mind over matter and all that, which can't best nature forever, but it's a good stopgap.

         Gau though- He trots into a particularly deep spot in the snow and jumps backward, letting out a surprised growl. Watching him, she isn't heartened, but her thoughts and memories shift and it becomes easier to feel neutrally and remain cold within the cold. The way Gau moves is beginning to remind her of an old cat Cid used to keep around the lab. It was a thin and scraggly thing and temperamental too. That cat never liked her much, but it loved Cid and Terra. Terra could probably get along with Gau just fine too.

         …Yet somehow this thought was enough to encourage Celes to reach out to Gau herself. "Is this your first time in the snow?"

         "Snow disappear when it touch Veldt," Gau avers. "Cold hurt." Gau rubs the back of one dirty hand against his chapped lips and nose. "Gau not know cold bite."

         Out on the Veldt, Celes supposes he wouldn't. Snow can fall within that climate, but outside of the mountains it's unlikely for there to be much or for long. Gau may have a thick head of matted, greenish hair and may be accustomed to a higher degree of exposure than the average human, but how little clothing covers his body is a sign of the temperatures he's used to.

         He must be more uncomfortable on this terrain than any of them, while at the same time, the least capable of expressing of that discomfort. …Terra would do something for him. And that's not just because of the fire Terra can coax out of nothing (she knowingly learned how to make it so small and mild as a hot water bottle and unknowingly how to concoct a conflagration to scorch a hundred men to death). Terra was kind. Reduced to the deepest, most close-set of her traits, she must still be.

         Celes thinks she isn't that sort. She's more unlike Terra than otherwise. …but does she have to be? Even glaciers move and change, even if it takes them hundreds of years. All the love that remains in her- what's the good of it if it doesn't go somewhere?

         It's not- She's not immediately sure what to do for him. She's not sure how he would take to wearing her gloves. She doesn't have much excess attire to offer and her magic won't warm him, so she moves to unfasten her cloak. "Gau, wait," she calls to him.

         He stops and looks at her over his shoulder, curious. His caution is only that of an animal observing an unfamiliar situation. There's nothing personal about it. He sniff the air and shivers. Celes moves alongside him and stretches the cloak out over his shoulders. It's not much of a sacrifice to give the battered thing away. It's been hers for only the span of several days since Locke acquired it for her on the way north (from the faded stains and other signs of wear, she's inclined to believe he stole it, but maybe it was simply purchased secondhand). And her infusions have made her less susceptible to cold as well- if anyone can go without a cloak here, it's her (some part of her hints that perhaps it would be good to be numbed by the snow- that it will take her mind from the pain of finding that Terra has been freed, only for Celes to have lost her again).

         "Blanket for Gau?" the boy inquires quizzically.

         Celes wrinkles her nose, but decides not to correct his choice of words. "Yes. For you, Gau."

         He presses his cheek against the rough fabric. "Warm." He smiles at her and Celes is surprised that on meeting his gaze she feels more than adequately thanked. She feels…good. It's satisfying to assist him. She reaches around Gau's neck to get the cloak pinned together to hold it on, although she avoids attaching it to any of the strange furs draped over his scrawny body since she's not sure whether that would be more hindrance than help.

         He sniffs her hair as some tumbles over her shoulder and briefly touches his face. Celes isn't sure what her smell tells him, but perhaps his senses are trained enough for it to be something worthwhile. Up close, Gau definitely has a scent of his own. Not anything to make her recoil, but rather like a dog in need of a bath. (Terra's scent is burned into her brain, hard as it would be to describe in words- she might be glad her sense of smell isn't as developed as Gau's. A whiff of that wavy hair; those arms that had held her… She might stumble or melt. She can picture herself in this snow on her knees)

         "Blanket good," Gau nods, accepting the gift.

         "You're welcome."

         "Smell like mustard," he adds.

         Celes sighs with fond exasperation. "It came from someone else before me. You're going to have to talk to someone else if you want mustard."

        

         Gau trots along with renewed energy, possibly as much from his enthusiasm over receiving a gift as from feelings warmer. Celes makes a mental note to herself to remember to see that someone checks his feet and hands for signs of frostbite when the current crisis is resolved. There's no need for this strange boy to suffer unnecessarily, especially with all the suffering about she can do nothing to alleviate.

         Gau holds onto the sides of the cloak, letting it fill with air like a sail and billow out around him. He laughs like a hyena and runs a little figure-eight back around her and amidst the other members of their party. It frees smiles of varying styles and sizes across the group. Celes dares to take in Terra's. It's the sweetest, the most innocent, the prettiest.

         "You-" she address Celes, "You won't be cold?"

         Warmth rises in Celes' heart anew. "I'll be fine."


End file.
